Conscious Of The
Defect In His Own Title To The Throne, He Attempted To Exterminate The
Royal Race, By Putting To Death All The Children Of The Sun Descended From
Manco Capac, Whom He Could Seize Either By Force Or Stratagem.
From a
political motive, the life of the unfortunate Huascar, who had been taken
prisoner in a battle which decided the fate of the empire, was prolonged
for some time; that, by issuing orders in his name, the usurper might more
easily establish his own authority."
"When Pizarro landed in the bay of St Matthew, in 1531, this civil war
raged between the two brothers in its greatest fury; and though the two
competitors received early accounts of the arrival of the Spaniards, they
were so intent upon the operations of a war which they deemed more
interesting, that they gave no attention to the motions of an enemy too
inconsiderable in number to excite any great alarm, and to whom it would
be easy, as they imagined, to give a check when more at leisure. By this
fortunate coincidence of events, of which he could have no foresight, and
of which he remained long ignorant from its defective mode of intercourse
with the people of the country, Pizarro was permitted to advance
unmolested into the centre of a great empire, before any effort of its
power was exerted to stop his career. During their progress, the Spaniards
acquired some imperfect knowledge of the struggle between the two
contending factions; and the first complete information respecting it was
received from messengers sent by Huascar to Pizarro, to solicit his aid
against Atahualpa, whom he represented as a rebel and an usurper."
* * * * *
Manco Capac, the first Inca of the Peruvians, is said to have reigned
about the middle of the twelfth century, as the traditionary accounts
attribute a period of about 400 years between the commencement of his
reign and the decease of Huana Capac in 1529, which would place the origin
of the monarchy about the year 1129, allowing an average of 30 years to
each of 13 successive reigns. The traditions of such ancient matters among
an ignorant people are little to be depended on; and even admitting the
series of kings to be right as to number, the ordinary average of _twenty_
years to each of the _thirteen_ successive reigns would only give 260
years for the duration of the monarchy, and would carry back the
commencement of the reign of Manco Capac only to the year 1269. The series
of these kings, as given by various Spanish writers, according to the
traditions of the Peruvians, is as follows:
1. Manco Capac. 2. Sinchi Roca. 3. Lloque Yupanqui. 4. Mayta Capac. 5.
Capac Yupanqui. 6. Inca Roca. 7. Yahuar Huacac. 8. Inca Roca, likewise
named Viracocha. 9. Pachacutec[36]. 10. Yupanqui. 11. Tupac Yupanqui. 12.
Huana Capac. 13. Huascar, or Inti-cusi-Hualpa. 14. Atahualpa. 15. Manco
Capac the Second, crowned at Cuzco by permission of Pizarro; afterwards
revolted and retired to the mountains.
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